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Developer ESXMA 72GL Owner, LLC filed plans with the Boston Redevelopment Authority today for a 137,000 square foot hotel on Essex Street in Chinatown with 250 rooms. It will have 17 stories and replace an existing eight story office/warehouse building on an 8,095 square foot site. There will be no offstreet parking built.

According to the filing, the developers will contribute to neighborhood housing and jobs trusts and will improve sidewalks. A conditional use variance will be needed, but the filing included no other zoning information.

Construction is estimated to take 24 months, but no cost estimates have been given. The filing states that the developer has been in talks with the community since September, but it should still be interesting to watch. Gentrification and displacement have been major issues in Chinatown — according to the MassAlliance of HudTenants the new development in the area is raising property values, so even when the luxury housing doesn’t involve the tear down of housing, residents are still finding their rents and tax bills going up.